Owing to a clergy shortage, two of Dublin’s prominent city-centre Catholic parishes are to merge this week. Archbishop Dermot Farrell has decreed that St Mary’s Pro Cathedral and the Jesuit-operated St Francis Xavier on Gardiner St will unite, informed by shifting demographics in the neighbourhood and the foreseeable dearth of priests to cater to the archdiocese’s needs.
Last year, the Archbishop received communication from the province’s Jesuit, Father Shane Daly. Father Daly indicated that due to aging congregation members, a diminution of resources, and a drought of new clergy recruits, they were unable to continue providing pastoral support to St. Francis Xavier. Consequently, the church will now be incorporated into the Pro Cathedral parish with St Mary’s serving as the parish church.
In related news, Father Brendan Hoban, who co-established the Association of Catholic Priests, stated that homegrown Irish priests had become a scarcity. He projected that in a few years, the only Irish-born priests left would be living in care homes. He highlighted Dublin as an example, where among its 197 parishes and over 1.2 million Catholic devotees, a solitary individual was training for the clergy.
Father Hoban, in a piece for the Western People newspaper, addressed the notion that there were ample priests in Africa and Asia willing and ready to serve in Ireland. He contested this claim, noting the priest-to-population ratio in Africa is one for every 5,200 individuals, contrasting with Europe’s priest for every 1,700 people. He described the act of importing priests from less-privileged regions to wealthier ones, like the First World exploiting the Third World, condemned as another form of economic exploitation.
There has been a merging of dioceses in Ireland, resulting in three smaller western dioceses being absorbed into larger neighbouring ones. This is due to a decrease in numbers of clergy members, bringing down the count of Catholic dioceses from six to only three.
From February 2022, Bishop Michael Duignan has been the pastoral administrator of both Galway and Clonfert dioceses.
In addition, as of April last year, Archbishop Francis Duffy of Tuam was appointed the Administrator of the Killala diocese following the retirement of its previous bishop, John Fleming.
Lastly, since 2018, Catholic Primate Eamon Martin, also the Archbishop of Armagh, has taken on the administration of the small Dromore diocese in County Down. However, it is still uncertain whether this will be a permanent set-up or just a temporary fix.